


The Closed Door

by Nocturnalchild



Category: Marriage Story (2019)
Genre: F/M, Hurt, Loneliness, Sad Ending, Sad Story, Sadness, Unrequited Love, dumped and alone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-19
Updated: 2020-11-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27634267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nocturnalchild/pseuds/Nocturnalchild
Summary: Mary Ann reflects on her short relationship with Charlie.
Relationships: Charlie Barber & Mary Ann
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	The Closed Door

Charlie closed the door behind him.

_“You should accept generosity better”_

She stood there, with her books and notes and yellow papers, but the door stayed closed.

It was always words like…

_“What would I do without you?”_

_“I rely on you”_

They made her confident, they made her think that she could be a bit more, that she could step up. That if she persisted, on her tip toes, she could reach his heart. 

Or was it the coffee cups always on her desk? was it the nice talk after a celebration in a bar or maybe the looks?

For how many hours did she believe? And for how many weeks did she try to undo the threads of her delusions?

A closed door and always more questions. The days that followed she barely saw him, and when she did, he looked like a memory, a stained photograph.

She hated her heart for always asking the questions her mouth never found a way to utter. 

Unremarkable. She doubted she was even there. She was spinning around herself, chasing shadows, glimpses and polite smiles.

And his strides were always uncatchable. He was the man on flights and trains, he was a constant she was a variant. And she knew that when his beautiful head hit the pillow, there were no thoughts spared for her.

Mary Ann, so small and unremarkable.

She stood in her underwear, the steamy glass of her white bathroom reflecting the paleness of her soul.

_Maybe if I was prettier._

Mary Ann, so small and ...unremarkable.

She traced her ribs, and closed her eyes. It was hard to believe that his hands ever touched her forsaken body.

_Maybe if I was brighter._

She wanted to dilute in the white white tiles of her bathroom.

She closed her eyes and tried to remember his lips on hers, but she only saw Nicole’s. Plump and fresh and ripe, smiling to her, bright and radiant and triumphant.

Mary Ann was cold, but she smiled. She smiled when he didn’t greet her in the bar, she smiled when he discarded her, she smiled when he started to sing. When he finished, she applauded, she drank her wine, and she closed the door.


End file.
